Reviews by CRJMellor:

This beer was a dark brown/red, almost maroon tints, very fine white bubbles in the head. Sweet malt aroma as you'd expect but had just a touch of something else, maybe almonds or nuts. Very standard style taste. Little bit too powered the sweet malt-flavor and the hops were pretty faint, but thats the style. Alcohol defintely prevalent.

Syrupy, boozy and not tasty at all. I'm sorry . . . I hate to sound to harsh but this beer doesn't evn come close to resembling a tripel . . . not even an American example. The appearance is average and that's the best feature here.

Poured from a tap whose handle is a picture of Fat Albert in monastic garb with chalice in hand. Pure genius!

Arrived with a thin creamy white head resting over a hazy golden-copper body. The head receded rapidly, but left a nice lace in its wake. Sweet malt and Belgian candi aroma combines with a light citrus fruit and clove spice. Similar in taste, but the orange fruit is a bit more pronounced and there is an underlying hop bitterness. Slightly crisp upfront in the mouth, but finishes smooth and clean.

Another American-Belgian that has a bit more hop character than traditionally found in the style, but it does not seem terribly out of balance. The alcohol is well-hidden, and the sweetness is perfect-- full and present, but not cloying.

Pours a thick looking cloudy yelow. Almost no head at all even though I didn't pour it gently at all.Smells sweet and very fruity. Tastes yeasty with a harsh alcohol flavor at the end. Almost like a hint of malt liquor or vodka added into the mix before bottling. I tried a gulp and almost gagged. Lots of harsh alcohol taste. Way to boozy. Almost painful to finish.

Pale yellow and though sweet and sour, tasted aged and was sensational on palate. Fermented like carbonation. Too bad I could not walk away with a bottle. The Belgians was the surprise hit here, and this was the clear winner when I left. Enjoy and do not drive.

At first glance, some Belgian ales are hardly recognizable as beers, although they are the product of one of the oldest brewing traditions known to man. Belgium is a place where religion and culture currently coexist in a seemingly frictionless environment (since WWII), producing a plethora of world-class beers -- including the widely-available Chimay and Orval -- with uncanny methods and ingredients.

But to understand their beer, you first have to understand the hierarchy.

The beer basically falls into two categories: Trappist Ales and Abbey Ales. The term Trappist is used only when the ale is brewed in a Monastery of the Trappists (one of the severe Benedictine orders of Belgian Monks). The European Union has actually reserved the term Trappist explicitly for the labeling of these beers. (Only seven Trappist Monasteries, six in Belgium, exist today.) Abbey refers to ostensibly similar beers that are not brewed in Monasteries (a.k.a. commercial secular breweries).

Somewhat recently a third category has apparently emerged: "Trappist-Style Ales." Notice the hyphen. Very important. Viewed by purists as outright sacrilegious, these beers are a product of the emergent American Craft brewers, with their infinite willingness to tap a virgin segment of the market. The Belgian Tripel (triple) is pale golden in color, fruity-yeasty and higher in alcohol content than "Belgian Simple Ale" brewed by the monks for everyday use. Made in Ann Arbor by Arbor Brewing Company, Phat Abbot is one of the few Michigan breweries to attempt this style. Dark Horse Sapient, microbrewed by Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall, Michigan, is another popular choice.

Trappists are the real deal. Their religious way of life includes brewing, which is not a hobby for them. That's why the Monks claim there is no such thing as "Trappist-Style" Ale. Conversely, America has obviously always been a melting pot of ideas and people, therefore making the inception of this incarnation inevitable. Just so long as that hyphen is preceded by the word "style."

Presentation: 12-oz. Bottle from a six-pack (available at The Beverage Co. and Jack's). A slight hiss occurs upon opening, which translates into a slightly dismal pour; a miniscule head and low carbonation relinquish a sparse convoy of rising bubbles.
Appearance is a hazy copper/bronze color. Lacing is sparse and patchy. Aside from the lack of effervescence, smell is fruity and spicy with an astringent wave of perfumy toffee and malt in the background. When consumption commences, the abundant use of malt is quickly detected and overwhelms the minimal hop level, which is relatively "undynamic" in contrast to the real-deal Trappists. The Belgians are known for using interesting and unique yeast strains (high in Vitamin B and antioxidants) that unleash a funky-earthy taste that is otherwise indescribable. Phat Abbot doesn't necessarily achieve this element in its taste profile, but does come close with an unknown strain. Lactic sourness is another trademark of the style, which is detected and plays well against the decadent sweetness of the malts. At first, mouth feel is lighter than expected and, unfortunately, hindered by the missing carbonation. Even so, drinkability is paramount and the viscosity does heighten, without being syrupy, after it relaxes a bit.

True, Phat Abbot is no "La fin du Monde" ("end of the world" - one of the best representations of the "Trappist-Style" from Canada), but it is a commendable product, worthy of repeated sessions. ABC recommends pairing it with spicy BBQ wings, ribs and brats. The steep 10% ABV is commonplace for the style and is supremely well hidden. ABC's reputation is upheld by its brewing philosophy: "Our goal is to respect styles and traditions without being a slave to them." ABC definitely deserves an honorable mention here with Phat Abbot, which takes some courage and expertise to create, especially in the face of God.

A- Phat Abbot Tripel pours an almost dark yellow orange, with no head. Very little lacing and what appears to be very low carbonation.
S- Definitely smells belgian. The smell is sweet, with dark fruits and yeast.
T- Sweet biscuity malts, dark fruits, noticeable taste of alcohol but not unpleasantly noticeable. Somewhat tart as well. And call me crazy, but the finish reminds me of cooked vegetables. I always thought those guys on Craft Beer Radio were crazy for saying they tasted cooked vegetables in a beer, but now I've tasted them as well.
M- Very, very low carbonation to the point that it makes the beer feel slick. The warmth from the alcohol is nice though.
D- I'm already pretty tired from wrapping gifts and this one will be enough to put me to sleep. Good thing, I wouldn't want to be awake when Santa gets here.

Enjoyed fro the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This interesting triple pours a cloudy dishwater amber; deep and murky, with a subtle head of white foam that subsides quickly to a thin ring, thin pool, and subtle lacing. Nose is clove, bananas, heavy sweet malts, and moderate booze. Flavors follow the nose but exceed in proportions. Banana bread and spice hit on the front and middle with brown sugars storming into the middle to back with strong booze on all sides. Nice mouth feel, syrupy and full with light carbonation and an herbal sweet finish. Decent, but lacking in an overall nice profile for a good example of an American Triple. It's not bad, but outside of the boundaries. That said it is a malt lovers dream come true.

Light yellow pour, extremely heavy carbonation, hard to get it all into the glass. Light yeasty nose, hints of spice, but nothing exceptional.

Beer starts off big on the biscuit, and then segues into nice light fruit flavours, with coriander highlights. Honey. Sugary. Alcohol noticeable later in the flavour. Good.

Mouthfeel is fairly thick, but higher ABV beers should be. Some mild hop action and tingles as well, enough to take it to good. Drinkability, a shade above average. Fairly easy to drink given the ABV, but also this is normal for Belgian style beers. Not exceptionally cheap or expensive, so no bonus or ding on the rebuy.

The bottom line: Arbor has a decent little tripel here. I wouldn't go out of my way to have it again, but it's a good version of the style that I wouldn't hesitate to ask for if I saw it on tap.

I picked up a bottle of Arbor Brewing Phat Abbot Belgian Triple last week for $2.19 at The Lager Mill. I am in the mood for a good Tripel tonight, so I thought I would give this one a try and see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a goblet.

A- The label is like most from Arbor Brewing and besides a dark image of a fat monk it is pretty plain, I do like the shade of the blue they used and the matching cap. It poured a hazy dark golden color with only a quarter of a fingers worth of white head that quickly faded to a very very thin ring that stayed till the end. The appearance of this beer leaves much to be desired.

S- The aroma is much fruitier then I expected, I like it. The aroma is on the high end of sweetness with the candied sugar really sticking out. There is a pretty large fruit presence in this beer with lots of green apples, pears, and bananas. The yeast adds that signature spice to this beer with nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon sticking out the most. I didn't pick up any hops in the aroma. The aroma is pretty complex and I feel like all the different aromas come together nicely.

T- The taste is pretty similar to the aroma. It starts off with a bunch of sweet malts up front that aren't as sweet as they were in the aroma, and I like that. After that comes the fruit, it seems like the green apples and pears stick out the most with a nice presence of ripe bananas at the end. The yeast imparts some nice spices in the flavor with the cloves and nutmeg sticking out the most. Alcohol is noticeable but for being 10% I think it is pretty well hidden and it doesn't become warming.

M- Smooth and the body was pretty light for a Tripel, I would say medium light. It also had a light amount of carbonation which somehow worked really well with the lighter body, I know Tripel's aren't highly carbonated but this had to be the least carbonated Tripel I have had and somehow it worked.

Overall I thought this was a very good Tripel. Usually when drinking an American Tripel I feel that I have to lower my expectations a little, but with this one I didn't, if you put a glass of this in front of me and I didn't know it was made by Arbor, I am pretty sure I would think this is an authentic Belgian Tripel. I thought this beer had great drinkability, it may be the best that I have found in a Tripel, the alcohol is hidden very well and combined with the great flavor and good mouthfeel it makes for a pretty easy drinking beer that you really don't find in most 10% Tripel's. The thing I like most about this beer was the flavor, it was complex, great tasting, and very well balanced, in my eyes it could do no wrong. The drinkability was also very impressive. The thing I liked the least about this beer was the appearance, instead of being a bright golden color it was darker which made it look somewhat dirty, and the very low amount of carbonation makes for a very poor looking head that all in all made this beer nothing to look at it. I will for sure be buying this again, it's nice to know that Dragonmead isn't the only Michigan Brewing company making a kick ass Tripel. If you like Tripel's then there is a good chance you will like this beer, nothing about it is off for it's style. I am not the biggest fan of Arbor Brewing and find a good amount of there beers to be a miss, but this beer is for sure a hit. I am beginning to think that there are some styles this brewery does very well and just because some of their other beers aren't the greatest doesn't mean I should overlook their offerings or else I would never have got to try this very good Tripel. I will be trying more stuff from these guys to see what other styles they have a knack at. This beer is now my favorite from the brewery and I feel like it is slightly better then my former favorite Michigan Tripel, Final Absolution.